Funding/bursaries
Financial support while you train
There is plenty of financial support available during your teacher training depending on the subject you want to teach and your chosen training route.
Funding is available to help you train to teach. You can apply for:
- A tuition fee loan of up to £9,250 to cover your teacher training, so you do not need to pay course fees upfront
- A maintenance loan of up to £13,022 to help with living costs
You can apply for a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan if you already have a student loan, and regardless of whether you get a teaching bursary or scholarship.
You will only have to make loan repayments once you are earning. Your repayments will not increase if you already have a student loan and take an additional loan for teacher training.
Training to be a teacher can be a big investment. You need to consider course and living costs, which can vary between programmes and regions of the UK. Find out what financial help is available by visiting the Department for Education’s funding page.
Across the UK, Initial Teacher Education Trainees (ITET) are entitled to the same student finance as undergraduates.
The amount of funding you receive for teacher training depends on:
- Your chosen route
- Your degree classification or highest relevant academic qualification
- The subject you have chosen to teach
- Where you live and plan to study
- Your personal circumstances
- Teaching bursaries for training in England
Employment-based teacher training courses, including salaried and Teacher Apprenticeships
If you are a trainee on an employment-based training route, such as a salaried route or a Teacher Apprenticeship Route, you are treated as an employee from the beginning. This means that you will earn a salary while you train, and so will not be entitled to other financial support packages.
For salaried teacher training and the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship route, you will be paid as a member of staff and training costs to gain QTS will be covered by the school. This may also include a PGCE element. Your salary will depend on the school you train in and what subject you are teaching. This all must be agreed in your contract of employment with the school. Not all schools will offer this route for all subjects, so you will need to do your research or speak to an expert advisor. A training programme will be part of your employment.
Bursaries
To encourage graduates to teach certain subjects, bursaries of up to £27,000 are available in England. To be eligible for a bursary you will need the following degree requirements: a first, 2:1, 2:2, Masters or PhD. Certain eligibility requirements depend on the subject and age range you plan to teach and your degree class. Bursaries are only available if you are on a course leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and are not currently employed as a teacher. For information on Bursaries for individual subjects click here.
There is also the option to calculate your funding based on your personal circumstances here.
Scholarships
An alternative to a bursary, teaching scholarships of £29,000 are available to fund your teacher training for some subjects only. This is set up in partnership with highly regarded professional subject associations. These competitive scholarships are aimed at those with a first or 2:1 degree. Applicants with a 2:2 and extensive experience can apply. Scholarships are only available for some subjects.
For more information, click here.
Student loans and Tuition fees
Tuition fee loans are paid directly to your university, college, or ITT provider - it does not matter if you already have a student loan from your undergraduate degree. You can still apply for this student loan to support your teacher training. You will not need to make any repayments until you are working and earning. Use the DfE's student finance calculator to check your eligibility.
Is there any other financial help?
Maintenance loans
You may also be eligible for extra support to help with living costs. Students with children or a disability can apply for further funding from Student Finance - this could include the Childcare Grant, Parents' Learning Allowance, Adult Dependents' grants and Disabled Students' Allowance, which do not have to be paid back.
Details about these grants and the funding arrangements for trainees can be found here.
Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)
DSA is paid in addition to other student finance to help pay the extra costs you may incur because of your disability. It does not have to be repaid, depends on your individual needs, and is not assessed according to your household income. Find out more about Disabled Students' Allowance here.